I'm not a food critique, just a food lover and shares the joy with others out there....Please do note that taste is a matter of individual opinion and can differ from one to another. All views expressed here are purely based on my taste buds and preferences......

Sunday, 5 July 2015

Ah Lek Seafood Restaurant @ Hulu Bernam, Selangor

We had already done the usual Chinese food yesterday and as it was a Sunday, my brother was in the mood to go for some real 'seafood' and so, here we are at Ah Lek Seafood Restaurant which is located in Taman Weng Cheong on the Ulu Bernam side of town. This is just along Jalan Changkat Asa. Ask any local and they would have no problem guiding you here. Probably one of the newer restaurants in town that specialises in seafood and perhaps the only place in town where you could get crabs on a daily basis. Despite being new, this restaurant has built a reputation for excellent seafood at very reasonable prices in just a very short span of time. We have dined here a number of times now. Except for the first time where we wrongly ordered, all the other trips have been good. Why I said wrongly ordered is simply because we assumed that it is just like any other Chinese restaurant and ended up ordering basic dishes which turned out to be very ordinary. Having understood the fact that these guys specialise in seafood, the rest of the trips have been predominantly seafood orders' only and the food had been consistently good.

Ah Lek Seafood Restaurant at Taman Weng Cheong

Air Conditioned Dining Halls

Another Open Air Dining Area Which Is Mainly Used In The Evenings

Clean

The restaurant has both an air conditioned dining hall as well as an open air dining space. Mostly, the open air space is put to use in the evenings as it tends to be quite hot during the day. You would be surprised to note that the restaurant is crowded daily, especially in the evenings and it is always best to call and book in advance any specialty dishes that you would like to have for dinner as they tend to get sold out quite fast.

Crab Promotions

Prawn & Steamboat Promotions

They usually have ongoing promotions which they would display at the entrance. Their promotions are usually good and value for money and as a practice, I would always make it a point to check the promotion of the month before placing my orders. Like today, there were ongoing crab and prawn promotions which we took advantage off.

Cutlery Immersed in Hot Water

Chopped Garlic

Chinese Tea @ RM 0.50 per glass

Coca Cola @ RM 2.00 per can

Waiting For The Food To Arrive

We deliberately arrived late this afternoon, somewhere close to 2.30 pm and even then, there were a couple of tables that were occupied. Well, as it was a Sunday, it is the time of the week to laze around and we didn't want to push ourselves to get up very early and arrive here in time for lunch. That would have defeated the whole purpose of Sundays. In a way, it was good too that we came slightly late as the service was much faster than peak hours. From the time of order, it took them merely 15 minutes and the dishes started arriving one by one.

Sweet Potato Leaves with Belacan @ RM 8.00

Sweet Potato Leaves with Belacan @ RM 8.00

Instead of having the usual Kangkung Belacan or Pucuk Paku Belacan, we decided to go for the above Sweet Potato Leaves that were cooked in the same style with Belacan. As a matter of fact, it tasted even better. Kangkung generally has a fibery taste to it but these Sweet Potato Leaves have a flavour of their own and they gelled excellently with the Belacan and oil. The vegetable too were fresh and not overcooked thus retaining much of it's flavours and crunchiness. Absolutely delicious and one that was cleared in just minutes. I would rate this at 9.7/10 . For the volume, the price is RM 8.00 is surely very reasonable too.

Kam Heong Clams @ RM 18.00

Kam Heong Clams @ RM 18.00

Kam Heong Clams @ RM 18.00

These clams were awesome too! Prepared according to the Kam Heong style, it was cooked with some Chili Paste, Dried Shrimps and other spices, making it slightly spicy and with a tinge of saltiness coming from those Dried Shrimps. In some places, you may notice that the gravy may be darker in colour. That mainly comes from the oil that is used. If lesser oil is used, then it has a lighter colour like this.The clams were huge too and they were fresh, meaty and sweet. An excellent preparation and I would rate this at 9.2/10 .

Drunken Prawns @ RM 15.00

Drunken Prawns @ RM 15.00

Drunken Prawns @ RM 15.00

Drunken Prawns @ RM 15.00

One that was on offer and the entire dish came for RM 15.00 only. One that is definitely of a great value. The prawns were medium to large and these were cooked with Chinese Rice Wine. Not one that would get you intoxicated as it has been added merely to enhance the taste of the dish. The preparation was just awesome. One of the better Drunken Prawn dishes that I have tried in recent days. Loved it! I would rate this at 9.5/10 .

Salted Egg Crabs @ RM 47.60

Salted Egg Crabs @ RM 47.60

Salted Egg Crabs @ RM 47.60

Crabs were on promotion too and we decided to take advantage of it. These were approximately 700 grams in weight and were priced at RM 47.60 . A good deal I feel. Preparation wise, since we already had Kam Heong Clams, so we felt like having this cooked with Salted Eggs and they turned out to be excellent. The crab's shell had already been cracked open in the kitchen and a lavish amount of Salted Eggs were used to give it a thick coating and batter. In fact, at the base, there was some gravy like Salted Eggs too which was just amazing. Having the shell cracked prior to cooking had an advantage too. The thick batter was able to seep into the meat thus enhancing the already sweet taste of the crab meat. Just loved it and I would rate this at 9.8/10 .

The Bill For The Day

Opening Hours

It was indeed a very satisfying meal and we all returned happy. If I would have had the same in Kuala Lumpur, it would have easily cost us RM 150 +. At two thirds of that, we had a feast. I have recommended this restaurant to many of my friends in Kuala Lumpur who have made day trips to Tanjung Malim and they were all very happy with the food here. After all, Tanjung Malim is just a 40 minutes drive from Kuala Lumpur. Definitely a place that I would highly recommend and worth an evenings drive from KL.